Rockets Visit Hawks to Finish Road Trip
Last Stop. Bruised and Battered. Better Start.
The Rockets make their fourth and final stop on this road trip as they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. The Hawks are coming off an impressive road win over the Sixers in Philly in their previous game. Houston is trying to snap a three-game skid, as they enter State Farm Arena desperate for a road win. Atlanta won the first matchup between these teams, 134-127, back on December 20th in Houston. The Rockets are seeking revenge tonight, but it won’t be easy.
Houston limps into this matchup, as they have a heavily injured roster coming into tonight’s tilt. Alperen Sengun will miss his first game of the season with a back injury. Cam Whitmore is out with a sprained ankle. Fred VanVleet remains out with an adductor strain, and Tari Eason remains out with his leg injury. Those are four incredibly important pieces of this Rockets squad. While they’ve been without Eason for a while, and without FVV for the last couple of games, the losses of Sengun and Whitmore are huge for Houston as they desperately try and fix their road woes.
The Rockets need a better start if they want any chance to pull out a victory with a short-handed team tonight. Trae Young and DeJounte Murray and once again the biggest defensive threats for Atlanta. Jalen Johnson has been having a breakout season in his third year in the league, and forward Saddiq Bey has recently shown consistency and rounded into form. Houston has to pray their shots are falling tonight, and hopefully Atlanta is tired as they also had a game last night. Due to the injuries, the Rockets are big underdogs tonight, but these are the types of weird games this team could win in a season that’s been oddly inconsistent.
State Farm Arena: Atlanta, Georgia
Jersey Colors:
Houston Rockets (23-28): Black
Atlanta Hawks (23-29): Red
Tip-Off: 6:00 PM CT
TV: Space City Home Network, NBA League Pass